Quick thoughts about some books that I’ve read/listened to this year, in chronological order.
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Silvia Moreno-Garcia - Mexican Gothic 🍄 This was a fun, indulgent time. The characters were painfully shallow, but I think that’s part of what made it a fun, indulgent time. The book came alive for me during the surreal dream sequences. They were so mesmerizing, vivid, and sensual—so cool. I was not sold on the love interest at all, and honestly I felt that the romance weakened a lot of the book’s strengths.
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Diane Setterfield - Once Upon A River 🛶 I picked this up because The Thirteenth Tale is one of my favorite books. It’s beautifully written, and the flow of words is river-like and spectacular to experience, but it is… incredibly slow. It took me a month to figure out the premise: a nameless child is found in a river, and three different families who each lost a child believe she is theirs. Once it got going, this story hurt. I cried so much. Now that I have a little one of my own, stories about children hit different.
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Yangsze Choo - The Night Tiger 🌙 Oh my goodness, this has become one of my favorite books. So intriguing and magical. I listened to the audiobook while preparing to release my album, tiger & water. Yangsze Choo’s voice is so beautiful! The story is set in Malaysia and I loved hearing how the Chinese and Malaysian words were pronounced. My only complaint is that some of the loose ends weren’t tied up or explained, but I really hope there will be a sequel someday!
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V.E. Schwab - Gallant 🪦 I gave this one a spin because I heard it was like Coraline. It has fairytale and horror elements, and it’s simply and poetically written. But it’s also more heartbreaking and way more gruesome than Coraline. Some parts were so scary!
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I’m currently in the middle of Lavender House by Lev A.C. Rosen, which is supposedly “Knives Out but queer.” I’ve been listening to it while painting backgrounds for Infloresce Records’ upcoming festival. It’s from the perspective of a gay detective in 1950’s San Francisco. It’s sort of cheesy and dramatic, but we deserve a queer, cozy whodunit novel, and I’m hooked!
My other reads this year have been nonfiction—mostly parenting and design books.